Nothing new. I remember my DO attempted to talk to us into baptism when I was between 8-10.
G.B. TALK URGING CHILD BAPTISM!
by The Searcher 69 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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NAVYTOWN
Baptizing defenseless young children into an adult-oriented, anti-child cult should be viewed as a form of child abuse sanctioned by the Watchtower GB. Let's just start calling it what it really is: Emotional abuse of children!!
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Splash
So getting baptised is just like going to work at McD's !
I can see the similarity in that both JW's and McD's will give you a McEducation, but I think he forgets that you can turn your notice in at McD's if you don't like it there, and your family will still talk to you afterwards.
Splash
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Pistoff
It bears repeating:
In the WT, baptism is an unbreakable social contract with a corporate body that unilaterally changes the rules at will.
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Vidiot
Pistoff - "It bears repeating: in the WT, baptism is an unbreakable social contract with a corporate body that unilaterally changes the rules at will."
Gosh.
When you put it that way, it sounds... well...
...insane.
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BU2B
HA HA he says that he hear that kids 13, 14, 15 are not baptized, like its shocking! When I look at these men, I see Jim Jones. I got baptized at 12 because I was raised to believe that I was dedicating myself to GOD! Now I realize that I was duped. Now I am a hostage at age 25 because of a decision I made at 12. I face either living in a way that I hate, or losing my family. This is so sickening and evil and manipulative that I dont have words for it.
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skeeter1
Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys get baptised too young.
Don't let them drive four doors, wear suits, and peddle the Truth. . .
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Apognophos
Sorry if someone already said this, but I believe this stance is a direct response to the religion's first world problems (no, not that kind of first world problem). They don't get much growth in these countries, except from JW children. Let's do some math, correct me if I'm wrong here.
If every Witness couple could keep two of their children in da troof, then the org. could continue growing -- that is, it would stay flat on account of born-ins, plus additional converts would lead to growth, assuming they outpaced the number of exiting (DFed/DAed/fading) converts, which is a reasonable assumption.
But because the commonly accepted wisdom is that 2/3 of born-ins leave, and because the average number of kids in a family in the U.S. (for example) is less than 2 (among non-immigrants), that means that the org. can only count on as low as a 50% chance of a JW couple producing a single JW who stays in (using a 1/3 chance of staying and an average of 1.5 kids). Thus you have an attrition rate of 50% generation over generation in first-world JW families.
So we should not be surprised by an increasing focus on holding onto the kids in the org. They are the lifeblood of the org. since third-worlders do not have as much money to donate.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
An 8yo is entirely too old! The parents should be conducting prenatal Bible studies! The mother should be dunked to above the bump so the fetus can be properly dedicated and baptized.
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Quendi
Just a comment on Apognophos' math. I don't doubt his overall conclusion about growth for the WTS, but I think (and I may well be completely wrong) that his calculations may be mistaken. This looks like a problem of conditional probability and so would be subject to Bayes' Theorem. Someone else may want to look at this and correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have the time to do the Bayesian mathematics right now but I believe it would lead one to the same conclusion Apognophos has drawn.
That being said, I concur with the rationale he has proposed for the WTS pushing child baptism so aggressively. The Governing Body is looking at its bottom line and how it will have to adapt to twenty-first century reality. Without the financial support that only first-world Witnesses can give, the cult will implode, so it is important to lock in youngsters and bring them fully into the fold. The Governing Body is well aware of the high attrition rate among Witness youth. They do a marvelous job of hiding this fact from the rank-and-file using such smokescreens as promoting child baptism and full-time work to engage their youth. Despite this, the youth drain continues and that must be a source of great worry to the Governing Body.
Quendi